


The Heroes of Station 19

by Sparrow_31



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A little angst, Adrinette, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cinnamon Roll Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, F/M, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Military, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Outer Space, Science Fiction, Superheroes, a little action, a little fluff, ladrien, love square
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28930287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparrow_31/pseuds/Sparrow_31
Summary: When on their first day of training as Galaxy Guard Cadets, a giant stone creature controlled by a malicious alien appears on Space Station 19, Marinette and Adrien discover highly advanced technology inhabited by spunky AI, that gives them superpowers.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	1. Sol 1--A New Threat

As far as mornings went, this had not been one of Marinette’s best. Which was unfortunate, given that she’d only been up for fifteen minutes. But sleeping through your alarm and nearly missing the first day of cadet training definitely qualified as “not the best.”

As it was, she slid into her place in the line just in time for her name to be called. “Present!” She answered through a mouthful of pastry, pulling on her uniform hat.

Chloe Bourgeois, of course, had to comment. She’d decided years ago that, rather than be beneath her notice like most of the galaxy, Marinette was the perfect whipping boy for her frustrations. “Dupain-Cheng! I suppose I should have expected the bakers’ daughter to stuff her face like that! Ha! We don’t even _need_ bakeries.”

“You say that like people actually _want_ to live off supplement pills and protein shots.” Marinette carefully brushed the flaky pastry crumbs off her hands. The entire conversation was happening _sotto voce_ , standing at attention as their instructor continued down the line.

The self-important blonde raised her nose even higher in the air. “My daddy is the earthen ambassador to the Galactic Council and he endorsed the supplement pills just last week.”

From Marinette’s other side came a laugh. Her best friend Alya leaned a bit closer so Chloe couldn’t hear. “He may endorse them, but he definitely doesn’t live off them. You can see him on either side of the lectern when he gives speeches.”

Their conversation was cut short when the instructor called for attention. “Salute for Colonel Damocles!”

A large man with grey and white hair marched in front of the new recruits. “You have each been drafted to serve the Galaxy Guard. Your preliminary training has ended, and you are now old enough to begin training as true Galaxy Guard Cadets. Raise your hand to take the oath.”

Before Colonel Damocles could continue, a young man stumbled from the hallway into the large room. He was in the Guard uniform, and he wore it well (Marinette blushed--he wore it _very_ well) but his hat was in his hand and his hair was not regulation cut like the other boys.

The Colonel raised his eyebrows. “Yes?”

The boy raised his green eyes to the platform, clearly realizing that he had interrupted something quite important. “I, uh, I want to become a cadet.” He hurried on. “I’ve done all the prior training home-study, so I’m qualified. I’m sorry I’m late.”

Colonel Damocles nodded. “What’s your name, young man?”

“Adrien Agreste.” He turned to face the line, not sure where to go. Chloe darted out and grabbed his arm, dragging him into line next to her. He bumped into Marinette and sent her tumbling to the ground, dust covering her new uniform.

He muttered a quick “sorry” under his breath and turned to help her, but Chloe yanked on his other arm. “Don’t bother, Adrien, it’s just Dupain-Cheng. You and I’ve been friends forever, so don’t worry about _her_.”

By that point she was already on her feet brushing off the dust, and missed the apologetic glance he sent her way. She glowered as she took the cadet oath. _Stuck-up little...Chloe’s friend, I should have known…_

As they marched to the barracks, Adrien tried to talk to her but she turned to Alya instead, talking about nonsense until the boys’ and girls’ paths diverged. The strip of lights on the ceiling reflected the artificial time of day on the giant military satellite that was Station 19, still morning. Marinette found the barracks bunk with her bag on it, luckily next to Alya and Mylenne, not Chloe.

Alya loosened her bootlaces and sat down on the end of Marinette’s bed. “You gave him quite the cold shoulder.”

Despite the fact that Marinette was in the middle of a completely different sentence, she knew what her friend was talking about. She didn’t answer, just unzipped her duffel and started pulling out clothes.

Alya picked up a pair of socks and tossed it at Marinette’s head. “Do you even know who he was?”

Marinette thought about it for the first time. Adrien Agreste. The name was familiar, but it was a big galaxy. For all she knew, she could have heard of him from a holographic program about teen drag queens or something.

She sat down, forgoing the unpacking for a moment. “Alright, so tell me.”

“That was only the son of _Gabriel Agreste_ , your favorite fashion designer and space-armor technician. And you just ghosted him!”

Marinette laughed. “Please, Alya, you can’t ghost someone you’ve never talked to. Besides, he’s Chloe’s friend.”

A roar and the sound of shredding metal from the hallway suddenly tore through the space. Marinette shot to her feet, her duffel bag falling onto the ground, scattering her possessions under her bed.

The rest of the girls ran to see what was happening in the hall, but Marinette’s eye was caught by a small red disk laying on the floor next to her journal. She bent and picked it up. It was made of shiny metal, nearly microscopic circuitry lines running all across it.

It slid into the palm of her hand, and a hologram flickered up from it. Marinette turned it around in wonder, no idea where it had come from. Then the hologram started to talk. “Marinette? I’m Tikki. There are people that need your help.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve never seen this disk before, how do you know who I am?”

The small holographic creature smiled. “I’m an extremely advanced AI system called a Kwami. I’ll explain it all later, but I need you to trust me.”

Screams sounded from the hallway and the door was crunched until it was halfway shut, never to move again on its twisted hinges. She watched her fellow cadets get flung past the opening, followed by a stomping creature she hardly knew how to describe. It wasn’t like any alien race she’d seen before, seven feet tall with stone-like skin and indistinguishable features.

Marinette stared back at the hologram. “You want me to fight _that_?”

Tikki nodded. “Just put the disk on your spine, a few inches below your shirt collar, and say ‘Tikki, spots on!”

***

Adrien stared at the suit that had just materialized around him. He laughed. “You really weren’t kidding, Plagg! This is incredible!”

The hologram didn’t answer from the disk like he had before, but rather from the display screen that projected itself in front of Adrien’s eyes. “Yea, yea, I’ve always known I was cool, now get out there and kick that kid’s butt. Maybe you’ll run into some help on the way if you’re lucky.”

He took another minute to look at himself in the mirror. The suit was more sleek and yet more durable looking than anything his father had designed. It was all black, head to toe, with glowing green highlights down his sides and arms. A strange cylinder was attached to the back and he pulled it off. It extended in his grasp to a staff. The top half of his face was covered by the mask that his Kwami was talking from. He chuckled again. The strangest part of the get up was a set of cat ears on top of his head. After a bit of confusion, he realized that with a thought they could expand and close into a space helmet, safe for leaving the satellite.

Which, if the sound of shearing metal from the hall were any indication, might happen sooner rather than later.

He ran, finding himself faster and stronger than before. His eyesight had even sharpened. The trail of destruction led away, toward the giant room where they’d been initiated as cadets.

“Oof!”

Without warning he found himself lifted into the air, wrapped in some sort of rope. As he focused his eyes and tried to figure out what was going on he couldn’t help but notice a _very_ lovely face just inches from his. She’d gotten trapped in the rope too, it seemed.

She let go of something she was holding and they both crashed to the ground. He clambered to his feet and held out a hand. “You must be the help I was told about. I’m…” he paused for a second in contemplation. Important moment, choosing your name. “I’m Chat Noir.”

She shook his hand. “I’m Ma--” The round, yoyo-like anchor at the end of the rope finally fell and knocked her on the head. “Massively clumsy,” she finished dejectedly.

Chat Noir looked at her suit. It was very similar to his, though without the cat ears. Hers was red with black accents across it, her dark hair glowing in the light it cast. He nodded his head at the path of destruction. “We should probably get going.”

She set off at a run, and he followed, but had to slam on his brakes when she stopped suddenly at the door to the giant assembly hall. The monster had gotten bigger, but now it’s back was to them, they could see a purple lump on its back that didn’t match the stone that made up the rest of its body.

Chat Noir gasped. “Is that--”

The lady in red nodded. “An akuma. I thought they’d all died off in the war and the trials following it, but I guess not. But that doesn’t explain why we have a giant stone beast.”

He shrugged. “Well, maybe in the quest for galaxy domination during the war they found something that gave them new abilities. It doesn’t look like the Akuma itself is doing anything, just sitting there, but I’d bet it’s in charge here.”

Plagg finally decided to put in his two cents, and he could see the red Kwami doing the same. “If you get the Akuma off, that will restore the person it’s controlling.”

Chat Noir looked over at the lady in red. “Should we give it a shot?”

She looked worried but determined. “I think we’d better,” she said, and took off without him.

He shook his head. “Wow. That’s some girl.”

As he ran, Plagg shouted tips in his ear. “The staff can become a spear or a sword if you need it.” “Your partner has the range weapons.” Blah blah blah. “Now _hit it!_ ”

He jumped, raising his stick in the air and smashing it down on the stone creature’s head. It barely flinched, just turned and grabbed him, flinging him through the air at his partner. They crashed into a corner of the room. The lady in red put her head in her hands. “There has to be someone else more qualified for this than I am. I’m a disaster.”

Chat Noir put a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t really know you, but I can tell you’re brave, and capable, and you’ll save the day.”

She looked up, a small smile on her lips. “Thanks, Chat Noir. I suppose I could use the special power my Kwami mentioned.”

“Special power?”

“Yeah, didn’t your Kwami mention yours?”

Chat Noir rolled his eyes. “No he must have forgotten it.”

Plagg whined out a sorry, plus an excuse that had something to do with cheese, before explaining.

The lady in red meanwhile, was concentrating. She held out her hand, and in it appeared a coil of rope. As he watched more carefully, Chat realized it was actually building itself in her hand, 3-d printing, in a way. This technology was incredible!

She opened her eyes and looked puzzled. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

Chat raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know? But you created it.”

“The AI created it. It mapped the probabilities of the battle and gave me what was mostly likely to help us succeed.” Her eyes scanned the room at a dizzying pace. “If I can figure out how to use it.”

It only took a few seconds before she “ahah-ed” and handed him the rope. “Tie a loop on the end. Stay here, and when I say so, toss it over the stone beast’s head.”

He had the knot tied and was standing at the ready by the time the lady in red had gotten to the other side of the room, her yoyo in hand. “NOW!”

The rope landed neatly around the stoneman’s neck, quickly followed by the yoyo rope. Pulled in two different directions, he stopped. Chat's partner shouted to him again, and he tied off his end of the rope, jumping onto the back of the stone beast and stabbing the Akuma latched there with his spear/stick.

It fell off with a scream, and the stoneman shrunk, the ropes falling away. Soon sitting in the middle of the room was a fellow cadet, Ivan, looking bewildered.

The Akuma got up and started to make a break for the nearest student, but Chat Noir grinned. Time to use his “special power.”

***

After the adventure in the morning, Marinette _really_ didn’t want to go to training. She felt bruised and exhausted, but since no one knew she’d been the hero in red she’d finally dubbed Ladybug, she didn’t get a free pass.

At least their strategy instructor, Master Sergeant Bustier, was kind.

At the end of the day Marinette dragged herself to the mess hall, not even trying to look upbeat any more. Alya was saving her a seat, but she ended up at the end of the line, and by the time she got to the food, there weren’t any trays left.

She sighed and turned to go, but was stopped by none other than Adrien Agreste. He held out his food. “Take mine, I’m not hungry.”

She looked up at him skeptically. “Not hungry? We just had our first day of Galaxy Guard training, and an Akuma attacked during it. Besides, I don’t trust you.”

He looked sad. “I’m sorry about Chloe this morning. I tried to help you but by the time I’d shaken her off it was too late.” Catching the still doubtful look on her face, he laughed. “Just take the food. I’ll see you tomorrow…”

She took the tray, her hands brushing his. “Marinette.”

He tipped his cap. “See you tomorrow, Marinette.”

She stared at the tray, her hands still tingling as he left the mess hall. “Um, thanks.”

Alya stood and walked over. “You alright?”

Marinette shook herself mentally. “Yea, just… Nothing. Let's sit, I’m starving.”

Alya and their other friends kept her chatting about their classes, which drill instructors were meanest, what strategies they use for fighting a fleet of high speed space cruisers, and various other topics.

But the thoughts circling in the center of it all in Marinette's head were these two questions:

“Who gave me the Kwami that granted me the Ladybug powers?”

And not quite as important, though it seemed so, “ _Why_ the _heck_ was her heart beating so hard after just one conversation with Adrien Agreste?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own any of these characters or concepts!
> 
> Thanks for reading, this is my first fic and I don’t have a beta reader so it’s probably a bit rough! Thanks for the comments and kudos as well!
> 
> Working title, might change.


	2. Sol 6--Akumas Explained (Sort of)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions about the Akumas abound, but Ladybug and Chat Noir are ready for action.

_“...disappointed with you for going behind my back. An Agreste should be better than that.”_

“Yes, father.”

_“I’ll let you stay there for a trial period, but only because of the paperwork it would take to pull you out of the Guard. Nathalie Sancoeur will be monitoring your progress.”_

Adrien huffed lightly and muttered under his breath. “She’s your scientific consultant, not your secretary PA.”

_“What was that, son?”_

His newest (and first) best friend Nino winced, but Adrien was used to the cold harshness of these exchanges. “Thank you, father.”

He ended the hologram call.

Nino tossed a pencil at the ceiling, his military-style Galaxy Guard cap turned backwards. “That was not cool, dude. Your dad always seemed distant in his TV interviews, but that was just...something else.”

Adrien shrugged and reached up to twist a lock of hair before remembering it had been military cut the day he joined the cadets. “As long as I don’t do too poorly or get in trouble he’ll let me stay. You can tell how much he really cares by the fact that it took a week for him to call. He just wants to make sure his brand image isn’t compromised. And Nathalie’s pretty awesome, so having her show up once in a while or call will be a nice break.”

The other boys shuffled into the dormitory from their turn in the showers. Kim was needling Ivan, like he had been for the past week. “Hey, Mister Alien-Apartment, how are the tenants?”

Despite the fact that Ivan was bigger and taller than Kim and could have just walloped him, he just hung his head and sat on his bunk, toweling off his hair. Nino stood up and punched Kim’s arm. “Not nice, man, you don’t know what caused the Akuma to choose Ivan, but it wasn’t his fault.”

The athletic boy looked humbled and turned to Ivan. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to--to be mean, I guess.” He pulled on a tank top and jumped up and down, warming up his running legs for classes later that day. “I wonder who’ll be next. If there was one Akuma left over from the war, there’ll be others.”

The disk still fixed on Adrien’s spine felt heavy as they talked. “We don’t know enough to tell. I’ve been doing research, and I’m sure the instructors have as well,” Max said. The boy sometimes struggled through the physical exercises, but there was no one in their entire group of Guard Cadets that could equal him for intellect. There probably wouldn’t be a person in the entire Galaxy Guard to match him in a few years. “I’ll share my findings in class.”

This snapped their attention to the clock. Five minutes to get across the station sector. “Dang it,” said Nino, “I bet the girls took all the comfortable seats again.”

They booked it through the metal halls, getting there with two minutes to spare. As Adrien and Nino filed into the room at the end of the line and headed toward the last two seats in the room, on the second row, Marinette shot to her feet. “Come on Alya, let’s give the boys these chairs, they’ve sat on the bench all week.”

She practically dragged her friend back a row and forced her to sit. Adrien smiled at them and he and Nino sat in the comfortable chairs, getting a few death glares from the other guys. Behind him he heard Alya whisper to Marinette. “Are you sure there aren’t _ulterior motives_ for switching seat--” A smack and her sentence finished with an “ow, okay, okay!”

Adrien turned around. “Thanks Marinette! How’s your day been so far?”

“No good, problem!” She squeaked out. “I mean, no problem, good?”

He raised his eyebrows in concern. “You alright? You seem a bit...tense.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “Pfft, what, no! I’m a normal person Marinette today!”

Their strategy instructor, Sergeant Bustier entered the room and put her bag on the desk in front of her. Judging by the thud it made, today would not be an easy day.

The room quieted and she pulled out a file folder. “I’ve been asked by Colonel Damocles to update you on the Akuma problem. Thanks to samples pulled from Chat Noir’s spear, Dr. Mendeleiev has been able to run DNA tests on the Akuma, comparing it to other samples we have of its race from during the war.”

“Speaking of Chat Noir,” said Nino in a whisper to Adrien, “that’s one cool dude.”

Adrien smiled. “Ladybug is better.”

A chuckle from behind him from Marinette. “Nah, Chat for the win.”

Sergeant Bustier sent them a stern look and they shut up. She must be serious. Stern wasn’t really her default setting.

“Max, you want to help me explain the results? I don’t understand all of Dr. Mendeleiev’s conclusions, full of technical jargon as they are.”

He hopped out of his seat, his Akuma research papers in hand, and trotted to the front of the seat, taking the DNA file and scanning it. His expression grew progressively more concerned as he read. “This is not good. Really, just, _not_ good.”

The group of cadets waited in silence for him to continue. “With conclusions like this, there’s a 76 percent chance I’ll get attacked _right now._ ”

A collective intake of breath from the room, followed by muttering. Sergeant Bustier held up her hands “Woah, woah students, remember what we talked about on Wednesday.” She put a hand on Max’s shoulder. “Deep breaths, calm, now listen to what he has to say.”

Max adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. “Well, if I’m interpreting this right, the Akumas have been tampered with genetically. Someone has deliberately changed them to be attracted to and feed off a combination of Epinephrine, Cortisol, and certain other hormones. Conversely, they are repelled by higher levels of Gamma-aminobutyric acid, Acetylcholine, and some endorphins.”

Sergeant Bustier nodded, but most of the class stared at him blankly. “Simply put, they feed off negative emotion, and are repelled by positive emotion. And it’s been done to them deliberately.” He shuffled papers back and forth. “Comparing the charts from during the war and now, they’re hardly the same species. Someone’s used them as a base and then changed them so they aren’t even Akuman any more.”

He pointed to the back of the classroom and Adrien heard Alix pop her chewing gum before talking. “So Ivan was changed earlier this week because he was feeling down? Any one of us could be changed any time we’re in a bad mood?”

The instructor took control of the class again and sent Max back to his seat. “Keep in mind we still don’t know a lot about these--why they change the people they attach to, who’s controlling them--but we also don’t know how they’re getting into the station. It’s a big place, granted, as big as a city, but no one’s seen them running around, so whoever’s controlling them must be limited in how they get them onto Station 19.”

An alarm bell shrieked through the speakers, and everyone threw their hands over their ears. Kim laughed and yelled over the noise. “I guess you jinxed it Miss B.”

The alarm stopped and Colonel Damocles spoke. “All soldiers and civilians report to housing and stay there until the all-clear. 17th infantry platoon, report to the armory.”

Adrien stayed in his seat until the class had left, and then tapped the disk on his back. “You ready Plagg? We’ve got to get there before the soldiers do, or they might get hurt.”

“Sure thing, Boss! Wait just a mo, _I’m_ the boss…”

“Plagg, claws out!”

***

The suit expanded across her body, finally clinking into place on her hands and face. “How are we looking, Tikki? Where do I head?”

A map of Station 19 popped up on her holographic display. “It’s quite a few levels down, but there’s quite a traffic jam in the staircase, if the security cams are telling the truth, which they probably are. Your best bet is probably to take the shortcut I’ve just illustrated on your map.”

The line on the hologram traced itself out of the spare room Ladybug had ducked into a few seconds before and down the hall in the opposite direction from the staircase. Straight to an airlock.

She hesitated. “You sure about this Tikki? We’ve only gone outside once before and it was a bit iffy.”

“Yesterday was a fluke. I know you can do it. But you need to hurry!”

The hallway was deserted, and she quickly reached the airlock, expanding her space helmet as she sealed the room. “You heard everything they said about the Akumas in class, right?”

Tikki’s image appeared next to the map. “Every word. And it’s given me an idea. I started programming a system into your suit for ‘healing’ the Akumas. Resetting their genetic makeup to what it was before the tampering. It gives them another chance at life, and since their numbers are so few, it’s not like they’ll be trying galaxy domination again.”

The other airlock door finally opened and Ladybug soared into space, using thrusters in her gloves and boots to control her tilt. She sped along the side of the ship and hit the button to open the floor where the Akuma was. “Let me know when the system is ready and how to use it.”

It was a complete commotion inside the hallway. Full fledged Galaxy Guards in their field gear crouched in doorways, ray blasters and laser cannons at the ready. In the middle of the space stood Dr. Mendeleiev, hovering a few inches above the floor. A purple blob that could only be one of the genetically altered Akuma’s clung to the top half of her face, leaving space only for her eyes.

She watched as Dr. Mendeleiev 2.0’s eyes started to glow, staring at a fellow scientist cowering behind the soldiers. “Disregard my research _now_ you sniveling little--”

“Woah there, let’s take a nice deep breath, Doctor.”

Ladybug sighed in relief as Chat Noir leaned casually on his stick at the other end of the hall by the open stairwell. The Akuma was not quite so happy to see him. Dr. Mendeleiev suddenly turned her glare on him, literal high powered lasers shooting out her eyes, nearly the power of the laser cannons.

Chat dodged out of the way by just a hair’s breadth. “Well isn’t that _great_. You know, someday we’ll probably get a villain that doesn’t destroy the satellite as it gets revenge.”

Running to tackle her partner to the ground as another laser shot his way, Ladybug grinned. “Well you know, a group of two isn’t really a good statistical sample.”

He sprung back to his feet and dragged them both into a side room that turned out to be a broom closet. “A bit CLAW-straphobic, wouldn’t you say, M’lady?”

Ladybug retracted her space helmet. “Really, Chat, there’s a time and a place.” She tapped her holographic display. “You got that system ready for me, Tikki?”

Her Kwami responded, her image lighting up the small dark space between the two superheroes. “It’s good to go. You’ll just have to get both hands on the Akuma and think the command. But there is a catch.”

They were close enough that Chat could hear Tikki speaking in her ear. He smiled wryly. “Always is, isn’t there?”

“You have to get the Akuma off the host before purifying it. Or else it will do really strange things to the human DNA.”

Ladybug looked up at Chat. “Any ideas for getting it off her face? We know where it is, we know what powers it’s given her, we just need to figure out what will neutralize those powers.”

He thought for a moment. “I got nothing. At least nothing that will get Dr. Mendeleiev out alive. Why don’t you use your lucky charm of a special power?”

She held out her hand and concentrated. “Tikki, can we get that?”

Slowly constructing itself in her hand was something large and, if she wasn’t mistaken, plastic. After a few seconds she recognized it. “Ah! Chat, look around for a water faucet. Tikki’s giving me a bucket. Water must negate her powers!”

The lucky charm continued to grow. Chat Noir carefully turned around in the small space to look behind himself, and leaned forward to look over her shoulder. “Right there. You ready?”

He backed up to give her space to turn around without knocking over brooms and dustpans. She almost overfilled up the bucket, her thoughts elsewhere. “Thanks for being a gentleman, Chat. And not trying anything while we were stuck in this cupboard.”

The expression he gave her was a sweet mixture of bewildered and worried. “Of course, Ladybug, you’re my friend and partner and I respect you. Besides,” his smile turned mischievous, “when you finally fall for me, I want it to be on your terms.”

She rolled her eyes. “Lets go defeat this villain.” They burst out the door and Dr. Mendeleiev spun to face them just in time to receive a facefull of water. The laser vision that had served her so well earlier sputtered like a shorted circuit.

With a deft spin of his staff, Chat knocked the Akuma straight across Dr. Mendeleiev’s face. The alien lifeform loosened and fell off and the now normal Doctor dropped a few inches to the ground. Chat looked at the side of her face. “Whoops, I think that’s going to bruise.”

Ladybug ignored him. She pounced on the Akuma and grabbed it with both her hands. Unsure what to expect, she was startled when the alien started changing color from the deep purple it had been to a lighter shade. It also changed shape, from a shape changing blob to an actual form, almost humanoid, though shorter. She finally let go when it opened its eyes.

The platoon’s Lieutenant came forward and started talking in a language that to Ladybug just sounded like garbled sounds, but Tikki translated it on her display. “You’re on Galaxy Guard Station 19. We’re here to help you.”

Several of the other, older soldiers looked suspicious, probably having served in the defense against the Akuman expansion, but the Lieutenant led the restored Akuma away down the hall.

Behind her she heard Chat sigh in relief as the crowd dispersed. “One more down, who knows how many to go.”

Ladybug turned around to face him. “We’ll get it down. This time already went smoother than with the Stoneman.”

He leaned on his staff. “You know Ladybug, that was some trick with the Akuma. You really are amazing.”

She laughed and reached out to ruffle his short hair. “You’re sweet, but far too good to me. It was all Tikki.”

He frowned. “Nothing’s too good for you, M'Lady.”

With another laugh and a shake of her head she stepped back into the airlock, his sigh following her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to be posting regularly, just whenever I have time to write this, so probably on weekends!
> 
> Disclaimer: Everything science-y or military based here came from a 20 minute google search, so don't come after me for all the inaccuracies! Suspension of disbelief and all that.


	3. Sol 49--The Heart is an Illogical Thing

Silence surrounded her. The vacuum of space stopping the noise from her suit’s thrusters, the only thing she could hear was her own breathing. She shut off the holographic display as she reached the edge of the satellite and stopped, staring, the Milky Way spreading away from her. Billions of stars looked back. The Galaxy Guard Cadets had learned all about them--their names, who came from the planets surrounding them, how physics spun planets in their near circular orbits and stars in theirs.

 _But sometimes,_ she thought, _you just have to forget everything you know and look with new eyes._

Movement in Ladybug's peripheral vision shook her from her reverie. She looked down. Inside the Space Station stood Adrien and Nino, looking out the window. Activating her thrusters, she turned so she was oriented the same way as them and their artificial gravity. She waved a bit shyly, still not comfortable with the glory and fame that came with being Ladybug. Adrien being there didn’t help her feel more comfortable either. He waved back just as shyly, his face turning pink. Nino saluted casually and turned to walk off. Ladybug didn’t move, and neither did Adrien, for just a moment, until Nino smacked him and dragged him toward the mess hall.

With one last glance at the expanse of space before her, Ladybug sped toward the nearest airlock. After an afternoon of flight, she needed dinner, and their free day ended soon anyway.

Landing softly as the gravity kicked in, she slipped into a bathroom. “Spots off.”

Tikki spoke in her mind. She’d updated the technology a few weeks ago so they could speak without the hologram. Much less chance of being discovered in a shared barracks that way. “Alya just messaged you asking where you were. She’s, apparently, got quite an idea to share with you, judging by the punctuation.”

Marinette straightened her blue and grey Galaxy Guard uniform and ducked into the dinner line behind Adrien. He smiled and handed her a tray. Her nerves spiked even further as she saw Alya wave the two boys to her table. Nino dropped into the seat next to her, his arm around her shoulders. “Were you two aware that this beautiful, spunky lady is my girlfriend?”

Marinette sat across from them. “You’ve been dating for a whole week. The entire Station knows by now.”

She tensed as Adrien sat next to her, but a sharp glance from Alya told her to relax and calm down. Just a few days ago she’d given Marinette a pep talk along the lines of: “You’re almost nineteen years old now, you have military training to face tough situations, and you still can’t talk to him? Geez, girl, you either got to tell him how you feel or get over him!”

“But I can’t tell him how I feel! He barely knows me since I’m so tongue-tied around him!”

*Dramatic sigh* “Then I can’t help you.”

At the time, Marinette had just groaned and put her head in her hands. Now, however, she got to thinking. She _definitely_ couldn’t tell him she loved him--sure they were adults, but that’s what made it scary--but she could steel herself and try not to flub her words so they could actually become friends.

She’d been eating on auto-pilot as she thought, the chatter of the room flowing around her. Alya waved a hand in front of her face. “Girl, you are totally out of it, you just ate a bite of broccoli with a bite of cake and didn’t even notice.”

Marinette grinned sheepishly. “Sorry! Why don’t you tell us about that idea you had?”

Her best friend’s face lit up and she pulled out her phone and computer. She had the real high tech stuff with holographic capabilities and advanced controls--it’s what she spent all her paychecks and free time on. “Remember the battle with the latest Akuma a couple of days ago?”

Nino snorted. “How could we forget?! The lunch-lady _literally_ had three heads.”

Alya flicked through different screens. “Well, look at this!”

She turned the screen, displaying a video. She had the sound turned down, but Marinette remembered what was going on. As they watched, Chat Noir and Ladybug attacked, took down the Akuma, healed it, and helped the bewildered lunch lady to her feet before running off in separate directions. Alya flicked to two more similar clips, before stopping on a still photograph of Ladybug floating against a backdrop of stars that Marinette recognized to be from earlier that very day. “I think I’ve got enough material to launch my career as a multimedia journalist!”

Trying not to show her apprehension at being the subject of a news article, Marinette smiled and walked around the table to give Alya a hug. “That’s so cool, good luck! You’ll do fantastic!”

Adrien shook her hand. “You’ve got my support! Are you planning on sharing your news stories with just Station 19 or the whole system?”

“Everywhere I can possibly get views! Ladybug and Chat Noir are the hottest topic here, so why not share their fame with the rest of the Galaxy, right?”

Nino kissed her cheek and opened his mouth to say something undoubtedly very sweet and loyal, but was interrupted by another voice. “Adrien? Will you introduce me to your friends?”

He stood, startled, and they all turned to face the newcomer. Adrien cleared his throat. “Uh, guys, this is Nathalie Sancoeur, my father’s scientific consultant. Nathalie, this is Nino, Alya, and Marinette, my best friends.”

Marinette felt her cheeks going red at being described as best friend material, and wished they would stop because this lady was not only the person who helped decide Adrien’s fate as a Galaxy Guard Cadet, but the type of person that just embodied calm, collected confidence. Her suit was freshly pressed and her hair neatly styled, with a daring red streak in front. Yet despite looking totally at odds with the chaotic cafeteria, she pulled over a chair and sat down at the end of the table, between Adrien and Nino. Adrien looked uncomfortable, for all the times that he’d told them Nathalie was cool, and had basically raised him. “Do you, um, want to go somewhere else so we can talk about what my father wants?”

Nathalie raised a single eyebrow, the rest of her face staying expressionless. “Expecting the worst?”

He wrung his hands, but she relaxed and even smiled. “Your trial period is over, and you can stay here, if you wish.” As he sighed in relief, she continued talking. “Frankly, I don’t think your father has any say in the matter now that you’re a legal adult. But don’t tell him I said so.”

She stood and turned to leave. “Oh, and be careful of those Akuma attacks.”

Nino gave Adrien a high-five. “You’re here for good, dude!"

Alya elbowed him. “Here for good for the rest of the year until our basic training is finished and we ship out to wherever our specialized fields take us.”

Marinette laughed. “Way to celebrate the occasion.”

As always seemed the case, just when they were having a good time is when the Akumas decided to make an appearance. And today it did look to be ‘Akumas,’ plural.

The four friends crouched behind their table as the room shook. They peeked over the edge and saw an unidentified man in a full space suit with ray guns in his hands, and Kim, dressed all in red, the Akuma on the center of his chest. He spoke to the room. “We are Dark Cupid and Roboguard. Where is Chloe Bourgeois?”

Alya had her phone filming over the top of the table. “Ooh, they’re naming themselves now?”

Marinette hissed out her response in an irritated whisper. “Not something we should be celebrating!”

Roboguard stomped forward, smacking tables out of the way, heading straight for them. “Alya, stop filming and get out of the way!”

Their table flipped before she could drag her friend from danger, and both of them were pinned to the ground. Alya’s phone skittered out of her hand and into a corner of the room. The boys had escaped being pinned, and Nino started to lift the table as Adrien ran for help.

Nino had barely even gotten to them when Roboguard put his foot on the table, keeping it in place and making the girls gasp with the extra weight. “Where is Chloe?”

He suddenly stumbled back with a loud clanging sound, and a figure in black and green sprung into the picture, his staff whacking the Akumatized villain again.

Lifting the table off the girls, Chat Noir bent down and put his arm around Marinette. “Nino, grab Alya, we’ve got to get them out of here!”

Marinette looked around. The room was empty except for them and the Akumas. She watched as Kim--no, Dark Cupid--raised his hand and pointed at Nino.

“Wait!”

Alya jumped in front of the beam, which sent her stumbling into her boyfriend, but seemed to have no other effects. Until she looked up. Her lips had turned dark red. She pushed Nino away. “Why are you still standing in my presence? I hate ALL OF YOU!”

Chat picked up Marinette fully and they ran.

He stopped in an empty classroom and set her gently on the floor. “Stay here, Marinette. You should be safe. Let me and Ladybug handle it and I’ll come back to check on you once things clear up.”

She grabbed the back of his belt as he turned to go. “Wait, Chat Noir, how do you know my name?”

He put a hand up to his neck. “Uh, I’m friends with Adrien? He told me where to find you all.”

Marinette smiled. “Adrien? He mentioned me?”

“Yeah, I really gotta go. Stay safe, Princess.”

The door to the room closed behind him and she sighed. “Did you hear that, Tikki, Adrien actually knows I exist!”

Her Kwami didn’t often go for an irritated tone, but just then it was in full force. “Marinette! We don’t have time for you to moon about! There are _two_ Akumas loose in the Cafeteria!”

Marinette winced. “Right, sorry! Tikki, spots on!”

By the time she reached the disaster zone of a mess hall, the Akumas had moved on. She cursed lightly and stopped to listen. Most of the yelling seemed to come from the direction of the training room. She cursed again, louder this time. The training room was the worst place to fight Akumas. The exercise equipment got in the way.

She looked around the corner to see Roboguard tying Chloe Bourgeois to a weight machine. Dark Cupid stood dramatically on top of a stationary bike, shooting light from his hands indiscriminately at everyone who entered the room. Wherever the arrows of light hit, people would turn on their friends, yelling or even attacking them.

All in all, not a good situation to be caught in the middle of.

Which was exactly where Chat was.

He spun his staff in a circle to stop Dark Cupid’s attacks, but Roboguard had finished tying up Chloe and was moving toward him.

Ladybug ran in, yelling a warning. “Chat, look out!”

He turned to face Roboguard, but Ladybug didn’t get there in time to protect him from the next arrow of light. He stumbled, and then straightened up. Roboguard backed off. Chat was now, essentially, their ally. Even Dark Cupid stopped shooting, content to watch.

Chat turned to face Ladybug. A sneer started at the corner of his mouth as he spun his staff around. “Well well, _m’lady,_ now I see the truth about everything.”

She took a step back. “I don’t want to hurt you, Chat, this isn’t you.”

The sneer disappeared, replaced by a glare. His green eyes grew dark. “You don’t even know me. No one does. They only care about the _oh so wonderful_ LADYBUG!”

Like the cat he was named for, he pounced, throwing Ladybug against the wall. Her vision went black for a moment, and when she could see again, his staff had turned into a sword, the end pointed at her neck. She took a shallow breath. “Chat--”

“NO! I’M talking!”

She closed her eyes and zoned out his voice, talking to Tikki in her mind instead. _“Any ideas for how to change him back? I can’t stand to see him like this.”_

Tikki’s response was not encouraging. _“My system isn’t perfect at assessing probable outcomes. Let’s hope there’s something I missed.”_

Ladybug sighed and opened her eyes, palms against the wall. Chat heard her sigh. “Well what is it now, Miss I’m-the-Center-of-the-Universe?”

A thought clicked into her brain. _Dopamine, Oxytocin._ And if it didn’t work, at least she tried. “Wouldn’t you like to strangle me, Chat? With your own two hands? More satisfying, wouldn’t you say?”

He didn’t give into her goading. “This way’s better. This way I get to see the blood pour out of you.”

He stepped closer, the edge of the blade at her throat now, not the point. “I win.”

Ladybug grabbed his shoulders. “No, I do.”

It was risky, but she leaned forward, ignoring the prick of the blade, and softly pressed her lips to his.

The sword dropped, though she remained pressed against the wall as he responded, his breath moving with hers. If the endorphins in _her_ system were any indication of _his_ , it had probably killed the Akuma’s influence stone dead.

Chat stepped back and she watched his eyes clear. “M’lady? What’s going on? When did you get here?”

She grabbed him and his staff and ran for the door to the locker room, hoping he didn’t notice that her face was bright red.

He kept trying to talk to her, but she closed her eyes, concentrating on the item that was building itself in her hand. Chat finally tapped her face. “Ladybug! What happened?”

She looked up into his now-normal green eyes. “You were evil for a bit, but you’re alright now.”

He stared at his feet. “I’m sorry if I said anything unkind or--”

Ladybug squeezed his hand. “I knew it wasn’t you.”

They watched as the item in her grasp reached completion. A mirror. “Well that seems kind of obvious.”

“Don’t be so close minded, M’lady, it could be used for something completely different.”

The door burst open as Dark Cupid finally got help from Roboguard. Ladybug crouched, ready. “No time to figure out a different use. If it doesn’t work, I trust you’ll find a way to bring me back.”

She held up the mirror in the path of the latest light arrow. It reflected back at its sender, hitting him in the face.

He immediately turned and shot another bolt at Roboguard.

Chat shrugged. “Well, I guess you were right. Simple!”

Two quick pokes with the sword and the Akumas fell away from their hosts. Ladybug healed them. Chat untied a still screaming Chloe.

The man who had formerly been Roboguard took off his helmet, revealing a man they recognized only as having been yelled at by Chloe earlier that day. He nodded his thanks and ran off.

Kim still looked sad as he sat on the bench press. Ladybug sat down on one side and Chat on the other. The tall runner sighed. “I guess I should have expected it, honestly.”

Ladybug put a hand on his arm. “What happened?”

“I asked Chloe on a date and she turned me down.” He shook his head. “No, she completely obliterated me.”

Chat gave him a commiserating look. “Wow man, I’m really sorry.”

Ladybug took a deep breath. “You know, Kim, I know what it is to have someone not like you back.” She heard a sharp intake of breath from Chat but ignored him. “And I know it’s not easy to just forget them and move on. But trust me. Things will get better.”

Kim looked over at her. “Things got better for you, then?”

She smiled sadly. “Not yet. But I know they will.” She stood, and helped Kim to his feet. “Go get something to eat. You must be hungry.”

***

Marinette ducked back into the empty classroom and dropped her superhero persona only moments before she heard Chat’s footsteps in the hall. She turned as he opened the door. “All clear? Akumas dealt with?”

He nodded, but his smile seemed distant. “You alright?”

“Yeah...Chat, are _you_ alright?”

He sighed and sat on a desk. “More or less.”

She sat next to him. “Spill.”

His staff tapped against his knee. “I just found out that Ladybug is in love with someone else.”

Marinette’s heart skipped a beat. He really looked heart-broken. She’d thought he was joking all those times he’d mentioned it before. “You--you’re in love with Ladybug?”

“Yeah.” His staff extended into spear mode and he threw it at the door, where it stuck, quivering back and forth. “I’m in love with Ladybug. But she’s busy breaking her heart for some other idiot who, from the sound of it, won’t give her the time of day, so she doesn’t notice that I’d do anything for her.”

 _Tread carefully, Marinette,_ she thought to herself. _Say too much and you’ll reveal your identity._

“Well, it seems like we’re all in the same boat and not a one of us knows what to do about it.”

Chat gave a dry laugh. “You too, huh? Best of luck.”

***

They sat in silence for several minutes, content to just sit in the dim room. Misery loves company and all that.

And it was nice to spend time with Marinette. They were friends when he was Adrien, but she never seemed comfortable around him like she was with her other friends. He was getting to know that side of her. The sarcastic, brave, sweet side.

Oh no, what if she was still angry at him for the first day of training when he’d knocked her over? It started bugging him even more, his leg bouncing up and down on the desk next to Marinette’s. She took off her uniform cap and tossed it at the door, catching it on the end of the spear. “What’s up now, Chat? Something else you need to get off your mind?”

He tried to affect his most casual air. “Well, um, not really. I guess I was just curious. I was talking to my friend Adrien and he was worried that you don’t talk to him as much as your other friends. That you don’t seem comfortable with him.”

Marinette dropped her chin and swung her feet. “I suppose I don’t talk to him as much. I’m working on it.”

“He was worried you were still angry about when he knocked you down the first day of classes.”

 _Oh yeah, Chat, smooth, slidin’ in there with the questions that_ totally _won’t reveal your secret identity._

Her head shot up. “No! Of course I’m not still angry about that! I forgave him ages ago!”

Chat smiled. “I’ll let him know.”

Marinette’s face turned panicked. “Oh, please don’t tell him too much, I don’t want him to think I’m weird or anything.”

Before Chat could respond she was halfway to the door. “I’ve got to go check on my friends! I haven’t seen them since the beginning of the fight and I’ve got to make sure they’re all back to normal and safe!”

He shook his head and smiled, before realizing that she’d be looking for _him_ as well and hurrying toward the cafeteria.

By the time he dropped his disguise and reached the right room, the other three were already there. Alya was busy kissing Nino, and Marinette stood awkwardly to the side. She smiled as he approached. “Glad to see you’re alright.”

He pointed at the happy couple. “Is there an occasion?”

“Nino took up the phone and videoed the Akuma Attack while Alya was under Dark Cupid’s influence.”

Adrien laughed. “True love.”

Alya and Nino broke apart, and Alya righted a few chairs. “C’mon, let’s see what he got.”

Nino chuckled. “You’re going to go wild for this one.”

Adrien watched in fascination as he blocked darts of light. He heard Ladybug’s warning and saw himself fall under Dark Cupid’s spell. He leaned closer. This was the part he didn’t remember.

He knew it all turned out alright, but his heart rate climbed as he watched himself hold a sword against his Lady’s throat. And then, wonder of wonders, she kissed him!

He’d kissed Ladybug!

 _He'd_ kissed _Ladybug!_

And he didn’t remember a second of it!

It was a long enough kiss that Alya could exclaim her joy as the Chat in the video dropped his sword and settled his hands on Ladybug’s waist as he held her against the wall. A bolt of light shot by Dark Cupid hit Ladybug, but it didn’t seem to have any effect.

Then it was over, and they were running into the locker room, chased by the Akumas. The video stopped.

Alya pumped her fist in the air. “I knew it would happen eventually! Even if it was to break the control over him, it still happened!”

She looked over at Adrien and Marinette and started laughing. “Look at the pair of you, blushing like kindergartners.”

They huffed in unison. “No I’m not!”

***

The lab was spotless as Nathalie hung up her goggles. “Another fine day of work, sir.”

Her boss, Gabriel Agreste, surveyed the space. “Adequate. We still haven’t recovered the technology belonging to Ladybug and Chat Noir, but our experiments are progressing well.”

Their cloning tanks sat filled with dark purple blobs at various stages of growth. The original Akuma they’d taken samples from had died years ago, but they didn’t need it anymore. The project was complete. Now all that was needed was implementation.

Nathalie took satisfaction from her science, but was not proud of what they had done, any more than she was proud of letting Gabriel control his son’s life. She would have much rather been working exclusively on his armor tech.

But the heart is an illogical thing.


	4. Sol 150--Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Tikki is damaged, Marinette must find the man who can fix her.

“EEEEP EEEEP!”

Marinette tried not to flinch as the whistle sounded right in her ear, but didn’t succeed, falling out of rhythm and stumbling as she ran. Sergeant D'Argencourt blew the whistle again and followed it with yelling. “Faster, Cadet! How can light weights like you and Cadet Bourgeois here protect the galaxy if you can’t even keep up with the line?”

Chloe protested. “Uh, why would you ever put me in a category with Dupain-Cheng, I’m so much better than her!”

But she didn’t run any faster. Marinette rolled her eyes and pulled ahead. She’d actually worked up pretty good stamina and speed from the past months as Ladybug, but she tried to stay in the middle range so she wouldn’t stand out. Tikki had made a point of telling her not to reveal her secret identity to anyone, and while Marinette didn’t completely understand why, she didn’t want her instructors to find it out just because she could do more pull-ups than the average female draftee.

Maybe if they did notice she could just pass it off as a result of years of kneading bread dough?

The halls of the station were still dim due to the early hour, and Marinette had to squint against the bright light in the training room. Alya waved her over to the weight machine and they started going through the motions of exercise. “Hey girl! You look more awake than you usually do. Morning run finally get your heart beating?” She smiled slyly. “Or did something else kick-start it?”

Marinette followed Alya’s gaze across the room to see Adrien cranking out pull-ups like he was born for it, his arm muscles straining, sweat sticking his shirt to his back. Her heart rate did speed up a bit more.

She turned to her best friend with a small, embarrassed smile. “Okay, I’ll grant you that helps,” Alya smirked. “But really it was the whistle in my ear and Chloe being a prick that just irritated me to alertness.

“Yeah, that makes sense, actually.”

Their conversation trailed to a halt as they watched a cheering group of cadets gather near the fighting mats. Marinette stepped away from the leg press machine and tried to get a better look. Adrien walked over to join them, breathing heavily. “There must be something impressive going on if Sergeant D'Argencourt is watching instead of telling everyone to get back to work.”

He stood on his toes and peered over the heads of the group. “Looks like Kim and Alix are going head to head.” He turned to his friends, a worried look on his face. “Kim is like, a full foot taller than her and probably weighs _at least_ fifty more pounds of pure muscle. Won’t he just pulverise her?”

Nino had just reached them, water bottle in hand. “Nah dude, you haven’t known Alix as long as the rest of us. She’s terrifying.”

Stealing her boyfriend’s water bottle, Alya shrugged. “Kim will probably win in the end cause he has that extra reach, but she’ll make him work for it.”

The three friends pushed through the crowd (Adrien stayed behind, too tall to stand in the front) and got a better view of the action.

Kim was fast, but wasn’t used to fighting someone so small. Alix weaved out of the way of his attacks, deflecting rather than blocking when it was necessary. She’d occasionally slip inside his guard and attack, her hits always well placed. A side thrust kick to the solar plexus sent a whoosh of air out of Kim’s lungs, breaking space in the taunting and banter that they kept up above the noise of the crowd. Alix laughed. “Ha! You want to say that again about me being a small punk?”

Kim wheezed as he tried to restore air to his lungs. “You...are a...small punk.” Alix went to hit him again. He held up a hand. “But that...does...doesn’t mean you c...can’t beat me up.” Another large gasp of air. “Happy?”

Alix raised her hands in the air in a victory stance. “That sounded like a surrender to me!”

The crowd cheered and laughed, and then gasped as Kim crouched at the ready, a grin on his face. “Not quite.”

The look on Alix’s face was probably priceless as Kim full on picked her up and tossed her out of the circle. Marinette and her friends couldn’t properly appreciate the moment, however, as Alix was flying right towards them. They only had time to widen their eyes in surprise before she bowled them down.

Marinette received the brunt of the force, flying backward into a rack of weights. In the chaos it was hardly noticed that she hit the back of her spine squarely on the edge of the rack, arching her back in pain before falling to the ground, limp. An electric shock traveled through her body, causing her to spasm and twitch a few times.

A gasp shuddered out of her as the shock reached her brain. She could hear Tikki call out her name in a disconnected, mechanical voice before she blacked out.

***

Half the crowd was still cheering Kim and Alix, but others started to notice Marinette still on the ground after the others had all gotten up. Adrien was the first to her side. He hadn’t been standing that far from the weights and had seen her hit. As others rushed to her side, Alya and Nino close behind him, Adrien yelled at everyone to clear a space. “Hey! No one touch her! Spine injuries are dangerous and we don’t want to make anything worse!”

Alya and Nino pushed everyone back and then knelt by their friend where she lay face down, crumpled on the ground.

Adrien’s mind was racing. _C’mon, Marinette, you’ve got to be alright, you’re the best of us._ He checked her pulse and sighed in relief. It was still beating strong. Her breathing seemed fine too. He carefully pulled down the back of her shirt to look at where she’d hit the rack. There didn’t seem to be any mark from impact, luckily, which he assumed was a good thing. Oddly enough, though, there seemed to be a fresh burn on her back in that very spot. “What the--”

Just then Marinette groaned and her eyelids flickered. Adrien gasped and leaned down so she could see him. “Hey, Mari? How do you feel? Do you remember who I am?”

She let out a small whine of pain. “Mm hm, Adrien. Ow…”

He brushed a strand of hair away from where it fell across her vision. “Don’t try to move too much, but can you feel your feet and hands?”

Instead of wiggling her fingers like he expected, she rolled onto her side and sat up. He carefully took her arms and let her lean back against his leg as he knelt beside her. “What did I just say about not moving too much.”

She smiled grimly. “I’m stubborn. Ignoring people is my prerogative.”

Kim and Alix finally pushed past Alya and Nino, both apologizing profusely. Marinette waved a tired hand. “I’m fine, don’t worry. It wasn’t your fault. I just have unfathomably bad luck.”

Sergeant D'Argencourt finally moved his way forward. Adrien couldn’t help but glare at him. Where had _he_ been as they were trying to figure out if Marinette was alive?

The tall man twitched his mustache. “Can you stand, cadet? We should get you to the medical bay.”

She tried to pull herself to her feet using the very weight rack that had caused her problems but her legs were only able to hold her for a moment before they gave out. Adrien caught her, his already sore arms sliding under her knees and back. He did his best to avoid the burn on her back but could see by her grimace he’d caught the edge of it. He shifted his arm down further, the position more awkward for both of them, but the grimace disappeared. “You good, Marinette?” She nodded, and Adrien turned to their instructor. “Lead the way, sir.”

Luckily for all parties involved, there was a med bay close to the training room. The door was open, and the medics quickly rushed over, directing Adrien to a cot where he could lay Marinette. He set her down carefully in a sitting position, but left his arm across her back so she wouldn’t have to lean the burn against the bed stand.

Before he could do more than turn to his friend, a nurse came in and tried to shoo him off. “Out you get, young man.”

He gave her his best smile, the one he used for his father’s photoshoots. “Please, can I stay with my friend? I want to make sure she’s okay.”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Marinette blush lightly. Or maybe that was just from exercising earlier?

The nurse raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “If you’re sure, but I was just about to ask your friend to take off her shirt so I could look at the injury.”

Adrien stuttered and started to leave before realizing his arm was still supporting Marinette. He could feel his face heating up. “Uh, yea, I’ll--I’ll just head out, uh, see--see you later?”

Marinette stopped him. Now she was definitely blushing, straight to her hairline, the tips of her ears coloring. “Well, if you really want to stay, I’m wearing a pretty modest sports bra. And, uh, I’d appreciate having a friend here to support me?”

Her voice went up at the end, unsure.

He put a pillow behind her back where his arm had been, but just moved to a nearby chair, rather than bolting out the door like he’d been planning.

The nurse chuckled. “Right then. Shirt.”

Slowly and carefully she started pulling the shirt over her head, but stopped with a hiss. It was actually a good thing that Adrien had stayed because she was in too much pain to lift her arms too far on her own, and he had to help the nurse get rid of the sweat stained gym shirt. Adrien was pretty sure he was blushing just as bad as Marinette now.

The nurse turned his friend so the burn was in clearer view, sitting just above the straps that criss-crossed her back. It was even clearer to see now than earlier. The burn was the main injury. There was only minimal bruising developing on the pale skin around it, not a large circle of bruise where she’d hit. The nurse seemed to think it was just as strange as he did, so he couldn’t chalk it up to medical inexperience. “Was there any electricity in the area? This burn looks electrical.”

Marinette sat up stiffly from where she’d been leaning forward with her chin in her hands. “I definitely felt electricity, yeah, but I don’t know where it came from. Weird, huh?”

Her laugh was normal enough that the nurse didn’t suspect anything, but Adrien knew Marinette better than that. He walked around to face her instead of her back and narrowed his eyes at her, his eyebrow raised. “Yeah. _Weird_.”

She ignored him.

He sat in his chair and switched between chatting with Marinette and asking the nurse about medical procedures. He knew basic first aid, but was intrigued by the steps she took to clean and check the wound. Marinette noticed. “Are you taking the medical track after finishing up as a cadet, Adrien?”

He shook his head sadly. “No, I don’t know what I’m doing. Sometimes I wonder why I even signed up for the cadets if I have no direction here either.”

Marinette smacked his knee. “It’s because you like helping people, yeah?”

“I suppose.”

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. “And you find Nurse Jaime’s work interesting?”

He nodded.

 _“Then go into the medical field!”_ She rolled her eyes. “Your science and memory scores are certainly high enough.”

Nurse Jaime gave him a look of consideration. “I don’t speak for my superiors, but from what I can tell, your friend here is right. You’ve picked up everything I’ve been telling you pretty fast. And you have a good bedside manner.”

A voice from the door caused them all to look up. “Ooh, bedside manner. That sounds useful dude.”

Nino gave him a wink as he and Alya approached the cot. Adrien was just puzzled. “Well yes, it’s important for patients to feel at ease when they're sick, and a sympathetic doctor can do a lot in that regard.”

“Oh, that’s what it means.”

Nurse Jaime held up a tub of burn ointment. “You want to help out, cadet?”

Adrien nodded and stood up. She handed him the container. “Not too much, but enough that it won’t all rub off when we put the gauze on.”

The nurse started rifling through a drawer. He unscrewed the lid. The smell assaulted their noses, pungent. Nino coughed. “Wow, that definitely smells healthy, in a I’m-definitely-never-eating-it sort of way.”

Alya kissed his cheek. “Never change, babe.”

Adrien stuck his fingers in the goop and was about to slather it on Marinette’s burn when he stopped. “Huh, you’ve got some blisters here that have popped. This might hurt a bit before it feels better.”

Marinette looked over her shoulder, her vibrant blue eyes locking with his. “Nurse Ava was right. You do know how to talk to patients.” She smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

Once he’d gotten over the initial embarrassment, Adrien didn’t feel very awkward at all that Marinette was in her sports bra, but he could see the tops of her ears turn pink again as he rubbed the ointment on her back, his fingers following the burn beneath the edges of her bra straps and up to her neck. It must not have been very bad on her blisters, because she didn’t flinch or wince or anything.

He tapped her shoulder with the back of his hand when he finished. “Stay there, I’m going to wash my hands and then Nurse Jaime is going to let me help with the gauze as well.”

When he returned from the sink he had a feeling that he’d missed something, but no one had said anything while he was gone. Marinette and Alya must be having a telepathic conversation, or communicating solely with facial expressions or something. They did that occasionally, though he wasn’t quite sure how. Or why.

They placed the gauze square and Alya helped Marinette back into her shirt. As she assisted, Alya told Marinette the other news. “Because of your burn and sore muscles and everything, Colonel Damocles is sending you home for the rest of the week. You’re lucky your parents live on the station or he’d probably just have you keep working.”

Marinette chuckled. “Nah, he’s a big softy. He just hides it well.”

She tried to stand up and once again her knees gave out and she dropped onto the bed again. She smiled sheepishly. “I guess I should have expected that, huh?”

Adrien picked her up again, avoiding her burn like before. The dorms weren’t far away, and he carried her to the door, waiting as Alya went in and made sure everyone was decent. When he walked in and set Marinette on her bunk he didn’t look too closely at the room, but couldn’t help but notice that the girls immediately flooded her space, asking what had happened and if she was alright.

He let himself out.

It wasn’t until that evening that he remembered that there hadn’t been any sort of electrical shock from the weight rack when he bumped it in his haste to get to his friend. So where did the electrical burns come from?

***

It felt like old times for Marinette, waking up in her own bed with the smell of bread wafting up the stairs. Not exactly like old times though, because there was no alarm beeping at her to get out of bed and be on time to anywhere. Also not like old times because she was still in her military fatigues.

She rolled onto her back, and stared up at the ceiling. Why hadn’t she changed into her pyjamas?

Then she remembered--her mom had offered to help her get changed, but said she was tired enough to fall asleep in her day clothes, so her mom had left. In truth, Marinette didn’t want her mom to find the damaged metal disk that had popped off her back when she hit it on the rack. It had slid into her waistband and she hadn’t had a free moment to hide it since. Until, of course, last night after her mom left, but Marinette really must have been tired enough to sleep in her gross sweaty gym clothes, because she could still feel the disk against her back.

Immediately fully awake (quite an accomplishment for her), she pulled out the red disk and set it in the palm of her hand. Tikki’s hologram flickered disjointedly from it, but there was no sound, and she was quickly gone again.

Marinette felt herself get choked up. Sure, technically Tikki was a series of chips and codes and microprocessors, but she thought like a living being. She joked and used sarcasm and scolded and kept Marinette company sometimes when she felt lonely, even surrounded by people.

She sniffed. “One more day for my muscles to recover from that shock, and then I promise, Tikki, I’ll figure out how to get you back.

***

The classroom that Ladybug and Chat Noir usually met in before starting patrol was dark, but Marinette knew that wouldn’t affect Chat’s ability to see. She stood in a corner, hoping he wouldn’t be too alarmed by her appearance. She’d grabbed a red jacket out of her mom’s closet and pulled the hood forward, covering her eyes. Her jeans and boots were black. If all went to plan, Chat would recognize her from the colors and her voice before throwing a staff through her head.

He entered not long after she’d situated herself. His eyes scanned the room quickly, golden hair reflecting the dim light from the hall. His eyes passed over her before jumping back. He dropped into attack mode.

“Woah, Kitty, it’s me.”

He relaxed, recognizing her voice. “What’s with the cloak and dagger?”

She took a step forward, but hesitated. “Would you mind turning around so I can get closer? I’d rather not have this conversation shouting across a room.”

He bowed deeply. “Of course, m’lady.”

Once he had his back facing her, she walked forward until she was just a few feet away. “Tikki’s out of action. I need to speak to your Kwami."

Chat tipped his head to the side. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“Right as rain, but I can’t tell you without risking my identity.”

He nodded. “Whatever you say. Plagg? Want to make an appearance?”

The little black cat hologram appeared in front of Chat and then moved so he could see over the broad, black-clad shoulder of her partner. “Why hello. You say something happened to my sugar cube?”

Neither of them commented on the nickname.

“Yes. Is there somewhere I could go to fix her systems?”

Plagg grinned. “Someone had to create us, right? Get out a paper and pencil, I’ll tell you how to get there. But you have to destroy the paper once you memorize the address, got it? Eat it or something.”

He listed a location. Marinette was surprised it wasn’t that far from her parents bakery. “I didn’t know we had anyone with these sorts of technological capabilities on Station 19.”

The hologram looked away, nose in the air. “A cat never reveals his secrets.”

He vanished.

Marinette stood silently for a moment, looking at the paper. Chat started to turn before remembering he wasn’t supposed to look. He mumbled something under his breath about feeling like Orpheus, but didn’t elaborate. “Would you like me to come with you, Ladybug? I know Station 19’s pretty safe, half of it being a military base and all, but it’s the middle of the night and you don’t have your suit for protection.”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, but I should go alone, or you’ll find out who I am.”

Instead of moving back, she lifted her hand even further and touched his short blond hair. “You’ve got a military haircut.”

His voice wasn’t completely steady as he responded. “So do three quarters of the men on this satellite, bugaboo, and weren’t you just saying we need to keep our identities secret?”

She sighed and leaned her forehead against his back. “I know, but I hate it. Why can’t I know who you are? Wouldn’t that be better anyway? Don’t you want to know who I am?"

He let his head fall back, looking at the ceiling. “Sometimes.”

Marinette backed up a step. “Only sometimes?”

He growled in frustration. “You know how I feel about you. If I know who you are there’s a chance we could make something of it. But if I don’t know your identity, it’s safe to love you because I don’t know who you are. I’m less hurt by rejection because we could never date as superheroes anyways. I don’t have to worry about what a potential relationship would do to both our lives and plans, because it’s impossible. But as soon as I know who you are, and you know who I am, there’s a whole world of hurt and heartbreak, just a few steps away from happiness.”

She put her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly, but he stepped away after just a moment. “I’ll go patrol. Wait til I’m out of sight to head to the address Plagg gave you.”

Marinette dropped her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths. She was starting to understand what he meant.

***

The streets were pretty empty, though Marinette did have to duck down a few side halls to skirt around a bar fight. Chat had gone in the direction that would have taken her most directly to her destination, so she had to take a detour there as well.

What she wasn’t expecting from the sector she ended up in front of was it to have a mini-Chinatown feel, like in those old earth cities she’d read about. Her mom had grown up in this area, and Marinette had never visited, but it did explain why Sabine still spoke a second language when most of the station didn’t bother.

Red banners left over from the lunar new year last week hung above a few doors and she could smell someone’s hot pot dinner. The address she’d been given was set back in a corner, hidden from view, but the metal door had been freshly painted to look like wood, with a stylized bamboo motif.

She knocked hesitantly, and the door was quickly opened to reveal a man about her height (that is to say, not that tall) with smile wrinkles by his eyes. “Ah, Marinette, Plagg told me to expect you sometime soon.” He waved her in. “Lao mian?”

She nodded in thanks and knelt at his low table accepting the bowl of noodles and chopsticks. It was clear he had tried to make the inside of his apartment feel more organic, just like his painted door. Where he could, he’d replaced aluminum and steel furniture with wood, and a bonsai sat on the center of the table.

The old man sat down at the table across from her. “My name is Master Fu, and I believe I can help with your problem.”

He held out a hand and she pulled Tikki’s disk from her jacket pocket, setting it in his palm. Like before, the hologram just flickered.

Master Fu turned it back and forth, looking at it in different lights. He pulled out a magnifying lens and a miniscule screwdriver and took off the top layer of technology. Marinette watched in fascination as he pulled out a small chip and examined it. Everything he did was far, far beyond her.

He placed the chip in a small dish and looked up. “Good news! Her memory chip and processing unit are undamaged. A new hardware system and she’ll be back to normal.”

Marinette wrung her hands. “I’m sorry, Master, I should have paid better attention and she wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

He smiled. “I have backups that I keep for situations just like this. It’s a dangerous profession you’re in, and I knew that when I gave you your Miraculous.”

Amazement was all she could feel, not sure what to say, so it all came spilling out at once. “You? You’re the one who gave--loaned us the disks? Do you make them? Why did you choose me? I mean, I’m a klutz! Did you call them Miraculouses or something?”

“I saw that you were kind and brave, and so was the young man I chose to be Chat Noir. Those are very important qualities.” His smile grew wider. “And yes, the man who invented the technology called them the Miraculouses. I was but an apprentice, but I’m the only one who knows the secrets of these wonders any more. I know how to fix them, but there was magic used in their creation that I cannot replicate.”

Before this year, Marinette would have scoffed at the mention of magic. Now she just took it in stride. “That’s amazing, Master Fu.”

As he spoke he had taken out another red disk and placed the chip inside. Now he started to screw it back together. “And unless you use your miraculous for evil, it is a gift, not a loan.”

He handed her back the new disk and she set it on her palm. Tikki sprang to life with a squeal of joy. “I’m back Marinette! Thank you Master! Say hello to Wayzz for me!”

“Say hello yourself!” A hologram popped up from near the bonsai plant, a green turtle floating above the table. “Nice to see you again Tikki!”

A crash sounded from elsewhere in the station, faint but loud enough to hear. Vibrations shook the floor.

Master Fu swept Wayzz off the table and handed him over to Marinette with another disk. The green and orange glistened up from her hand with Tikki’s red.

“You must go. These are for people you trust. You’ll know when to bring them into the team.”

He pushed her out the door. “Chat Noir needs your help.”

***

Chat Noir didn’t blame Ladybug for not being there. But man, he wished she was.

The akumatized student today looked more normal than they sometimes did, but Chat knew she was more dangerous than she seemed. Mostly because Akumas fed on bad emotions and this one had chosen Chloe. She was like, the fountain of youth, but instead of youth, it was just--bad stuff.

Maybe he shouldn’t try to make analogies while his face was being squashed into the metal floor by an Akuma.

The strangest thing about Chloe’s Akuma was that rather than try and make her strong or give her laser eyes like it had for so many others, it had left her mostly normal appearance-wise. But it was trying to replicate Ladybug’s powers, and doing a pretty good job of it. Rather than the AI system creating what would help most in the situation from the non organic materials of the suit, Chloe’s Akuma kept creating weapons out of bone and flesh (creepy, gross, mostly just really creepy) that she would fight him with until they broke. He’d also watched her leap out an airlock, fly to another, and enter as if she hadn’t just survived the vacuum of space because an alien life form had attached itself to her hand.

Chat tried to get his arms underneath himself to push himself to his feet, but she pinned one down with a foot and the other with the hilt of a ridiculously large bone sword.

“I’m _floored_ by your skills, Anti-bug.”

Her growl of annoyance at his pun was cut off but a yelp, and the weight left his back.

He sprung to his feet to see his Ladybug, smiling coyly. “And she was blown away by yours.”

“LADYBUG!” He swept her up in a hug. “I missed you.”

“I was gone for three hours, now let go so we can take care of this drama queen.”

At the other end of the room, Anti-bug had regained her feet. The two superheroes fell into attack position. “You ready, Alleycat?”

“With you at my side? I am now, M’lady.”

The Akuma charged. Ladybug concentrated, hand open. Chat Noir made a sound of amazement. “Wow, that was a lot faster than usual. Also, how exactly did it make a vat of glue?”

Ladybug shrugged. “I’ve stopped wondering. And I think there’s magic involved.”

She sloshed the glue across the ground in front of Anti-bug. The Akuma slowed and stopped, the quick drying glue halting her just out of sword reach of the heroes. Chat Noir leaned forward and Cataclysmed the sword as it swung past, quickly reaching in and freeing the akuma from her hand before another weapon could grow back.

Ladybug healed the Akuma and then turned to Chat, who stood watching Chloe struggle and curse from her spot inside the glue. “Huh. Double win.”

Chat went to go help her out. “It’ll already be enough trouble for the janitors without having to get Chloe out as well.”

“Well, I suppose. If we must.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot longer than I intended cause I was in the zone and there just wasn't a good place to split it. So thanks for reading to the end! (unless you just skipped down here to read the notes. then go back up to the top.)


	5. Sol 191--Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cadets' planning for the future is interrupted by an Akuma who threatens to destroy the space station.

The papers sat on the table in front of him, intimidating in how little they were filled out. He’d taken Marinette’s advice and was training to be a medic, but the papers requesting a position were supposed to be submitted tomorrow.

He groaned and lightly smacked his head on the table, hands hanging by his sides. “Why are there so many things to do?”

Max gave him a pat on the shoulder as he walked by. “Good luck, Adrien, but you know it wouldn’t have been this bad if you’d started the papers earlier!”

Adrien sat up and picked up his pen again. “Yeah, I know, but you’ve had your papers completed for the last four months! I’ll go commiserate with Kim. I don’t think he’s done them either.”

Across from him Alya and Nino were eating lunch, and his best friend gave him a grimace. “Sorry, but Kim’s not filling out any papers. He wants to stay on the standard galaxy guard track.”

Adrien’s second groan was drowned out by a sudden clatter as Marinette stumbled up to their table. Her bag was slung over one shoulder, about to fall off, a stack of paper forms in her grasp. Her other hand was trying to balance a full tray of food with a glass of water stacked on the edge. Alya quickly stood up and took the glass and tray. “What’s up?”

Marinette sat down next to Adrien. “Yea, I’m good.”

“That’s not what I asked…”

“Hm?” She looked up from the papers. “I’ve got to fill out my application papers and then there’s that essay on air freighter strategy that I’ve got to turn in to Sergeant Bustier--”

“Girl, that was due on Tuesday.”

She nodded absentmindedly. “Exactly Alya, that’s just what I was thinking. Application papers take priority over the--Whoops!” Marinette’s fork clattered to the floor and she hit her head on the table as she tried to catch it. “Ow--priority over the essay.”

She sighed and slumped in her seat. “I just need to figure out what to apply for.”

Adrien picked up the stack of papers. The essay was somewhere in the back third, but the rest of the stack was applications for various tracks. “Wow, you’ve got one of everything here.”

Marinette leaned over and looked at the one he had stopped at. “Oh. Right. Don’t need that one.” She pulled out the papers for the electrician sub-track and wadded them up, tossing them over his head into the trash. “Never understood the sciencey stuff anyway.”

The papers around it pulled free from the stack and floated to the ground. Marinette and Adrien both bent down to pick them up and knocked heads instead.

Nino laughed and Alya just shook her head with a smile. “You’re a spaz, Marinette.”

From across the room Ivan called her name. “Hey Marinette, Colonel Damocles thinks you’re pretty cool, what do you think of my application?”

She swung her legs over the seat and walked to his table, leaning over his shoulder. “I think it looks good, but the Colonel really values responsibility, so maybe put this item first under experience?”

Several of the other cadets hurried over. “What about mine?”

“Is this something I should be putting on my application, or is it better to leave off that I once won a hot dog eating contest?”

“Yeah Kim, impressive but not really what they’re looking for.”

“I drew a border of pink hearts on mine!”

She started to look overwhelmed. Adrien stood up to go rescue her from the mob, but the clock above the door buzzed 1900 hours and she started pushing her way through. “Excuse me, now that dinner’s over I’ve really got to go finish up some homework.”

Grabbing a roll from her dinner tray and the papers from Adrien, she hurried out the door. He looked over at his other two best friends. “Will she be okay?”

Alya shrugged. “She just gets like that sometimes. Trying to slow her down just frustrates her.”

“But she didn’t eat anything.”

“I’ll take her some stuff so when she finally realizes that fact, she’ll have something to snack on.” She picked up the sandwich from her friend’s tray and wrapped it in a napkin. “Now relax!”

Adrien sat back down and tried to get his mind off the flustered girl and the circles under her eyes, how her dark hair was escaping its usually neat military bun. “So. Alya, you’re going into journalism for the guards--It’s nice that they have so many options, until wartime, I suppose--Nino, what about you?”

Nino slung his arm around his girlfriend. “Not that different, actually. They make propaganda videos, and I’m into film and music, so I’m gonna try for that. Both of us behind the camera, hey?”

They chatted a bit more and Adrien was finally starting to relax when he felt something on the ground shift beneath his foot. When he looked down he saw the papers that had fallen out of Marinette’s application stack earlier. He picked them up. “I better go find her and hand these off.”

The mess hall was mostly still full since they had free time, which would probably make finding his friend a lot harder. Not many people would have seen where she went. Adrien ducked around a corner and scanned for people. It would be much faster to search as Chat Noir. “Plagg, Claws out!”

He ran down the halls at full speed, letting the suit’s advanced hearing pick out sounds and following them. Most led to people hanging out with friends or going for an evening run. A few times he ran into couples kissing in corners and had to tell himself he didn’t find it funny to scare the living daylights out of them as he barreled past and they jumped.

He’d covered almost the whole main floor when he heard something else. It was really faint, and if he hadn’t paused for a moment he probably wouldn’t have heard it. But it was there. The sound of someone quietly sniffing away tears. Unfortunately, it was a sound he was very familiar with, given how often he did it himself.

Not dropping his Chat Noir disguise so he could still follow the sound, Adrien walked around the corner and stopped outside an empty office. It had gone up for lease a few weeks ago and the cadets had been using it as study space ever since. He felt like smacking himself for not checking here first.

Chat quietly knocked on the door and turned the handle. The sniffing stopped and he heard a scuffle of noise from inside as someone tried to get to their feet. “Yeah, the study space is open, I was just leaving.”

Her nose sounded stuffed up, but her voice was surprisingly even. He wondered if that was because she wasn’t crying as hard as he’d thought, or if she just had a lot of practice covering it up.

He pushed open the door and peeked in. Marinette knelt on the floor, gathering up the papers from where she’d clearly dropped them. “Hey, uh, Marinette?”

She looked over in surprise. “Chat Noir?”

He held out the application she'd dropped earlier. “I--Adrien sent me with these. You dropped them earlier.”

She took them from him with a small smile. “That was sweet of him.”

Chat rocked forward and back on his feet a few times. “He also, uh, wanted to know if you were doing alright?”

A small section of his brain spoke up. _You’re in love with Ladybug, why are you talking up your alter ego to Marinette?_ But but most of his mind didn’t care. His friend was clearly in pain.

She smiled, and it looked almost natural. “Of course I’m okay, I’m great!”

He took a step forward and put his hands on her shoulders, leaning down so they were on the same eye level. “Marinette.”

In an instant she crumbled. Tears pooled in her eyes and started leaking down her cheeks. She brought her hands up to cover her face, shoulders shaking as she shuddered in an uneven breath. He wrapped her in a hug, her weight leaning against him, face buried in his chest. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Cry it out.”

He started humming an old earth song that his mom had always sung to him when he cried as a child. Now that she was gone, he still used it to comfort himself sometimes. Maybe it could help Marinette.

***

Chat’s arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in tight. Her sobs got stronger and she hugged him back, crying into his shoulder. After a moment he started humming a slow tune and rocking back and forth. Eventually her tears stopped as the song helped calm her breathing.

She finally stepped back and pulled a kleenex from the desk near them. Chat kept his hands on her shoulders. She looked back at him and could feel herself turn red. “Oh good grief, now I’ve gotten tears and probably snot on your suit.”

He grabbed a kleenex himself and quickly wiped his chest dry. “All good. Why don’t we sit down?”

He tossed the tissue in the trash, but grabbed the box before sitting next to her and looking over with concern. “Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to be distracted from it?”

Marinette took another tissue from the box. “I’d like to talk about it, if you don’t mind.”

He smiled. “Of course, I’m here to help you.”

She sighed. “It’s not actually that big of a deal, I suppose, but I’m PMSing and it’s blown everything out of proportion.”

“That doesn’t mean your feelings aren’t valid, Princess.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I don’t want to be part of the Galaxy Guard. I was drafted. Some careers are exempt, y’know. Aspiring fashion designer is not one of them. And I know it’s just five years before my draft contract is over, but four and a half more years doing something I didn’t like?”

Chat put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. “That’s why you have all the applications?”

Tears started falling again and she dabbed at them with the tissue. “I never prepared for a military career. Nothing here interests me. My friend thought something similar but he found an interest in the medical field and it’s perfect for him. Another one of the cadets who was drafted didn’t even have to choose because she showed off some wicked fighting skills and was recruited for special forces.” She threw her hands in the air. “And I have to have everything figured out by tomorrow!”

She buried her head in her hands again. “Besides, everyone keeps asking for advice, and I’ve got all these other responsibilities, and you and Adrien are the only people who worry how I’m feeling.”

Chat held out the tissue box again. “Would it make you feel better to vent about fashion for a bit?”

She tugged a tissue free of the box, tossing her last one overhand into the bin. “Would it ever. Then you could help me sort through these applications. Paper handkerchiefs on hand, of course.”

“It goes without saying.”

She started talking about all the designs she wanted to create, pulling out her sketchbook to show him her latest ideas. She wasn’t completely satisfied with most of them, but then again, there wasn’t much time to work on them nowadays.

Talking about her passion made her tears finally abate, and Chat laughed as she started telling humorous stories about some of the failures and successes in the world of clothing design. “The Galaxy Guard won’t accept that they need me in the capacity of a fashion designer, but they really do.” She stood up, smoothing her dress uniform jacket and holding out her arms so Chat could see the outfit. “I mean, look at this. The lay of the skirt is all wrong and the button placement on the blazer doesn’t look _nearly_ as smart as they think it does.”

Chat leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Well, Princess, it looks great on you.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Haha. My face is red and my eyes are puffy, you can cut the crap.” She sat back down. “I will admit the fatigues are alright though. At least they’re comfortable and practical.”

“Your creative talents would be wasted designing uniforms anyway.”

She nudged his shoulder with hers. “Thanks, Chat.”

He started picking up applications. “As far as I can figure, we need to find you something that fulfills these requirements, at the very least.” He counted off on his fingers. “You don’t hate going to work everyday for the next four and a half years.”

“Yeah, yeah that would be nice.”

Another finger went up. “It doesn’t stifle your creative mind.”

“Also preferable.”

“It helps you further your later career as the greatest fashion designer in the galaxy.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if that’s really something I can expect at this point. Also, the galaxy is a pretty big market, Chat.”

He held up a hand. “Only the best for my royalty. You shall have a position that helps you become a fashion designer later on.”

“Whatever you say…”

He grinned. “Any other stipulations?”

She let out a long sigh. “We probably should focus on those and see if there’s anything that fits them, even.”

They started sifting through applications. It actually went pretty fast because the first qualification about “not hating coming to work everyday” vetoed quite a few of them right off the bat, and a few others, like spacecraft assembly, would have turned her into an assembly line robot. Definitely not promoting of her creative mind.

After a dozen minutes or so they got to the papers that Chat had brought earlier. They had a shoe-print on the front, but Marinette could always get another copy for her final application if she needed to. _Hm, Adrien’s footprint...maybe I should save it anyway..._ She shook her head at herself. _Snap out of it, that’s the mindset of Marinette from half a year ago!_

Chat looked closer at the actual print on the page as she stared at the dirt mark. “Hey, this one actually has some potential!”

She refocused. “Cultural Advisor? I’d say it passes the first two tests, but the third?”

He pulled her design notebook out of her bag and flipped open. “Yeah, look. You’ve already got several designs based around different earthen cultures and from the nearby stations and systems. Imagine the inspiration you could gather by traveling the galaxy and coming to understand different cultures. It could really help your line of clothing reach a wider audience, as well as be truly unique!”

She grinned. “That’s--that’s a great idea Chat! And I can also help people understand each other better and avoid conflict!” She hugged him with a squeal and kissed his cheek. “Thank you!”

“W-Wait, don’t you want to look through the others?”

She grabbed her bag, leaving all the other applications behind as she stood. “Why bother? I feel really good about this one!”

Life seemed brighter as she waved goodbye to Chat Noir and hurried into the hall, slapping the top of the door frame as she passed. Time to get to work!

***

Chat stared at the door as it swung shut and then flopped backwards on the ground among all the applications they’d spread out. It was good to see Marinette smiling again. He didn’t like it when she was hurting.

The motion sensor lights flickered off.

Plagg popped up in front of his face. “So, does that count as your second date?”

Chat sat up again, the lights coming back on. “Date? Of course not! I was just comforting my friend. Wait, what do you mean second?”

The hologram shrugged. “Last time you hung out was the first date.”

“Discussing our separate relationship woes is not a date Plagg! How much time have you actually spent around real people?”

“Not long, admittedly, but I do have access to the entire internet.”

Chat just sighed and laid back down. “That was months and months ago. I wonder who she was talking about. Do you think I know them?” Plagg didn’t respond. “I wonder if she’s still interested in whoever it is…”

He closed his eyes and had almost fallen asleep when the full station alarm started beeping. The sound startled him awake and he had to cover his ears with his hands. “Good grief! What’s going on?!”

Running out into the hallway, he had to skid to a stop as people ran past in panic.

Ladybug was running the opposite way.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

She had to wait for him to catch up so he could hear over the chaos. “Up in Station control. Colonel Damocles has been Akumatized!”

No wonder the station alarm went off. They’d stopped using it for Akuma attacks ages ago, but if it was the _Colonel…_

They started running. “Any idea what he’s done or what his Akuma is like, M’lady?”

“I wish.”

They ran up the stairs to the center of Station 19. A few officers were fleeing down the hallway, but the bravest ones had stayed at their positions in control, trying to keep order. Ladybug held out a hand to stop him before they charged in. “Hold it. We need a plan. Let’s look inside and see what’s going on.”

The Colonel stood in the center of the room, hands flying over the controls. Anytime another officer got close and tried to stop him he would send the flying into the wall with a casual punch. “Hah! They want to replace me with a new Colonel? Absolutely not! If I can’t have Station 19, no one can!”

He finally pushed a few final buttons on the controls and then smashed them so his actions couldn’t be undone. He ran past Chat and Ladybug, swatting them into the wall. The alarm stopped and instead a calm mechanical voice started talking. “Warning, control level airlocks overridden. Depressurising. Will open in twenty minutes.”

The two super heroes looked at each other in panic. Chat scrambled to his feet and helped up his lady. “If the airlocks open while depressurized--”

She nodded. “It’ll tear the ship apart.” She thought for a minute before grabbing his arm. “Wait, how many airlocks are on this floor?”

He had to think. “It’s a smaller floor, really just control and a few offices. Two? Three?”

Ladybug smiled. “We can do that in time. With some help.”

“Help? Where are we going to get help?”

She ran off towards the stairs. “Just meet me at the nearest airlock! I’ll be back as soon as possible!”

***

Ladybug was grateful her suit was so durable. Instead of running down the stairs, she jumped down the middle of the stairwell, catching a rung a few levels down and hauling herself over. She ran toward the cafeteria, hoping her friends would be there. Alya hadn’t been right on the scene of the Akuma, so this was the next most likely place.

Sure enough, the cafeteria was empty except for Alya and Nino, who sat in a corner trying to hack the security cameras.

She pulled the disks from the pocket on her suit and approached the couple. “Hello?”

They looked up, and then quickly sprang to their feet. “Ah! Ladybug! What’s happening out there?”

“I don’t have much time to explain. Colonel Damocles has been Akumatized and Chat Noir and I need your help.”

Nino put an arm around his girlfriend’s waist. “Of course. Are we acting as bait?”

Ladybug held out the disks, orange to Alya, green to Nino. “These are the miraculouses of the fox and turtle. Place them on your spine a few inches below the collar.”

Alya gave her a look of suspicion and Ladybug winced internally--from those instructions it wasn’t too far of a leap to figure out who Ladybug really was, thanks to the burn incident of last month. “Alya, say ‘Trixx, let’s pounce,” Nino, say ‘Wayzz, shell on.”

They followed her instructions and were soon in their own supersuits. Rather than fangirling like Ladybug probably would have in their shoes, Alya nodded at her seriously. “I have some definite questions, and not just about the magic disk, but I’ll ask after. Let’s go.”

The two new superheroes followed her back up the stairs. Ladybug had no idea how long was left until the airlocks opened, but the ship was still intact, so that was a good sign.

Chat was waiting for them where she’d told him to, at the first airlock. He was fiddling with the controls, but they didn’t seem to be working, having lost their connection to the control room. “Chat. I got help. How’s it coming?”

He grunted in frustration. “Not well. We need Colonel Damocles back to normal--he has the override keys and experience to use them.” His eyes scanned the new heroes. “Nice to meet you.”

Alya shook his hand. “Rena Rouge.”

“Carapace.”

Ladybug turned to them as she called up her lucky charm. “Have your Kwamis been explaining the special powers your specific Miraculouses have?”

They nodded.

The lucky charm finished building itself into a giant net attached to a rope. “Then let’s finish this.”

“Warning, control level airlocks overridden. Depressurising. Will open in ten minutes.”

Chat Noir sucked in a breath. “We’re running out of time. Are you ready? The Colonel’s not too far away. I can hear him soliloquizing.”

Ladybug spread the net on the ground and quickly set it up as a trap. “We’re ready. Rena, can you hide that from view? And if he needs it, another illusion to give the Akuma a distraction or entice him into the net. Carapace, you’re our backup. If one of us is about to get squashed or an airlock is about to open, throw up your shield. Got it?”

Her and Chat took off down the hall in the opposite direction and ran directly into the Akuma around the next corner. He tried to grab them but they dodged, skipping backwards a few steps to lure him into chasing them. Chat tapped his head with his staff. “Sorry to _air_ my grievances, but couldn’t you make this a little more interesting?”

Ladybug stopped in place. “I swear Kitty, you’re honestly getting worse. I didn’t think it was possible but-- _mmph_!”

She cut off as the Colonel smacked her and sent her flying backwards. Chat helped her up and they both ran full speed down the hall, barely keeping ahead of the Akuma. They split and ran on either side of where they thought the net was. The colonel, on the other hand, saw what Rena wanted him to. He saw Chat twist an ankle and fall a few meters beyond the net, and Ladybug stop to help him. He ran straight into the net and was hoisted into the sky.

Rena stayed at the rope to make sure it held up, but the other three heroes hurried forward to search through the Colonel’s pockets. Carapace finally found the override key in his jacket and ran to the nearest airlock. He fiddled briefly with the controls and the lights on the door turned green.

Chat and Ladybug stayed behind to take care of the Akuma as the others ran off to finish the doors. By the time they found the Akuma inside the net and purified it, a sixty second countdown had started on the airlocks. They ran as fast as they could toward the last airlock, getting there just in time to see Carapace toss the override key behind him and throw up a shield, the airlock opening. Rena hugged him from behind and then picked up the key and finished the job.

After congratulations from what seemed like the entire station and quite a bit of interest in the new heroes, they finally all collapsed in the cafeteria.

“That was way more intense than filming it.”

Ladybug almost told her to be careful of her identity, but didn’t bother. “You can drop your transformations, kids, since I already know who you are, but try not to give it away like that in the future.”

Chat made a small sound of surprise as they revealed their secret identities, and Alya looked a little chagrined. “Sorry Ladybug. Not used to a mask, I guess.”

Ladybug just smiled. “Good to have you both on the team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at writing settings, so if it helps you, I imagine Station 19 as kind of like something from Doctor Who mixed with the peragus and Telos facilities from KOTOR 2?
> 
> To Lukanette shippers: I wanted to keep things simple for my first fic, so there’s no Luka to comfort Marinette. So sorry.
> 
> If anyone cares (I like weird specific details so I figure someone else must appreciate them as well), the song Chat hums is the folk song “Down in the Valley (Birmingham Jail),” not cause it has anything to do with anything, but because that’s what my parents sang to me when I was little so it’s what came to mind.


	6. Sol 193: Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated, I read the entire "Mind Games"-verse by tptplayer5701 last week and it was so good it killed my motivation for a while...  
> Anyway, enjoy this dreck I've written.

She knew he had a purpose for the experiments they’d been doing. Of course he did. Gabriel Agreste never did anything without having a good reason. Or, some reason, at least. A reason _he_ thought was good.

But Nathalie thought it had been connected to undermining the military while furthering scientific research. Not this.

No one in their right mind would do this.

The genetic work on the Akumas had just been a precursor.

***

Marinette groaned and rubbed her forehead with her hand, leaving behind a smudge of engine grease. Alya looked up from the other side of the engine. “What was that for? We’re just practicing the basics--changing engine fluid, replacing shift converters and hover bars... You could do this without even thinking, girl, even if you don’t like it very much.”

Ignoring the grease on her hands, Marinette rubbed her forehead again. “Exactly. That’s the problem. It leaves too much space in my brain for other things.”

Alya tossed her a water bottle and they sat down in front of the small space speeder. “Like what?”

Marinette sighed and let her arms fall to her sides on the ground, not bothering to open the water. “I think I’m in love,” she said quietly, so their classmates working on the other machines wouldn’t hear.

Her friend laughed heartily. “Okay, right, so, how long have we been on the station as Cadets?”

She looked at her watch display. “Um, one hundred ninety-three days?”

“And one hundred and _ninety_ days ago you already told me you’re in love with Adrien Agreste. As far as I can tell, that hasn’t changed, so forgive me for not being surprised.”

Marinette hit her head lightly against the ship, causing a metal sounding thunk. “Yeah, I’m still in love with him, but I’ve been hanging out around Chat Noir and I think I’m in love with him too. I have feelings for both of them.” She looked over at Alya, who still didn’t look surprised. “Why am I not getting a reaction here?”

Alya smirked. “Well duh, I could totally tell, no one knows Chat Noir better than Ladybug.”

The squeaking sound from Marinette’s mouth was alarming to say the least. “I--what--no--I’m not--where did you get that idea, it’s--you know me too well to think that!”

She’d also finally opened her water bottle, and it sloshed across the ground and her shoes as she gestured in panic.

Alya reached over and took it from her hands before the situation worsened. “You kinda gave yourself away during the last Akuma attack. How else could you manage to get an electrical burn in the exact spot we wear our miraculouses?”

Marinette sighed in resignation. “Does Nino know?”

“I suspect so.” Alya took off her glasses and cleaned the lenses. “He’s just too nice to say anything about it.”

She snorted and stole back her water. “No such consideration from you, I see, miss reporter.”

“I’ll protect your secret, don’t worry. In fact, now I can help you get away easier for Akuma fights since you’ll just have to escape the rest of the cadets and not me.”

They sat in silence for a while longer before Alya stood. “We should probably get back to work on fixing up the space speeder, but you’d better tell me about this newfound love of yours.”

Marinette set their water off to the side and picked up her crescent wrench. “That’s the thing. I don’t think it’s newfound. I think it just finally reached Adrien levels and could no longer be pushed to the side.”

Alya whacked at a stiff bolt a few times. “Wow, you really weren’t kidding if he’s on Adrien levels.”

Leaning forward and resting her arms on the rim of the ship, Marinette looked off into the middle distance. “You remember that slight mental breakdown I told you I had a couple of days ago?” Alya gave her a sad smile and nodded. “Well, he must have realized that I was in a bad place, cause he came and found me. He just held me and let me cry, and then let me talk for a while before helping to sort out what was bothering me.”

She had to take a break in her storytelling to fish a lock washer out from where it had fallen inside the machine. “Also, when I’m Ladybug he flirts and makes jokes, but he’s always sweet about it, and always a gentleman.” She sighed and could feel herself blushing. “I don’t know if I can explain it all. I’ve just come to realize he’s a really great guy, and my heart jumps when he smiles at me. Ladybug or Marinette.”

Alya raised an eyebrow and cocked her hip. “So would you say he’s featuring in your dreams as much as Adrien?”

Marinette made an over exaggerated expression of thought. “Night dreams or day dreams?”

A smirk. “Both.”

Marinette shrugged. “Well, the answer is yes either way. But it's not like I can ask him out or anything.”

“Because...you can’t talk to attractive guys to save you life?”

She laughed in mock derision. “No, because I don’t know his identity! Really not pulling the punches today, are we Cesaire?”

Her best friend stuck out her tongue. “Get back to work, Dupain-Cheng, or I’ll tell both of them and let you figure out how to deal with the resulting cat fight over you.”

***

Adrien glanced up at the noise from a few space speeders over. Alya and Marinette were laughing about something and Marinette had dropped the tool she was using inside the machine. That had only caused Alya to laugh harder.

He watched as Marinette fished around inside the speeder and pulled out the wrench. Her cheeks were pink with embarrassment but she was still laughing.

Adrien couldn’t help but smile. It was infectious. She lit up the whole room with that look.

He was called back to earth by Nino. “Hey, dude, earth to Adrien.”

He snapped his head around. “Huh?”

Nino put a hand on his shoulder “Stop staring besottedly at Marinette for the time being. There’s someone here to see you.”

Adrien flushed. “I wasn’t--Marinette’s just a friend!”

“Yeah, because that tender, smitten smile was _totally_ platonic.” Nino rolled his eyes and shook his head. “C’mon, dude, let's go.”

The hall outside the repair garage was empty, except for Nathalie Sancouer. Honestly, Adrien was pretty surprised to see her. He hadn’t heard much from his father in months, and Nathalie hadn’t visited since she gave him the all clear to stay with the Galaxy Guards. He gave her a short hug. “Hey Nathalie, did my father send you?”

She shook her head. “No. In fact, he doesn’t know I’m here, and he must not find out.”

He was too surprised to respond. He knew how close Nathalie was to his father. Why would she hide her visit from him?

She took a deep breath. “Nino, you may stay, if you wish. It won’t be long until this is common knowledge anyway.” She turned and ushered them into an empty room. “Let’s go somewhere I can explain and you can sit down.”

Adrien was more confused than ever. “What’s going on?”

Nathalie grimaced. “It’s your father.”

“What?! Is he sick? Hurt?”

She shook her head. “No. He’s the one who’s been sending the genetically modified Akumas. He’s the one who’s been putting the entire station in danger.”

Adrien felt faint. “He--He what? Why?”

Nino set a chair down beside his friend as Nathalie kept explaining. She looked like she was physically in pain by having to recount the tale. “He was experimenting with genetics. He cloned an Akuma that survived their galaxy conquest and was trying to learn all he could about changing the genetic code. Letting them loose and seeing what they could do was both part of those experiments, and his way of attacking a military system that he hated.” She hung her head and shuddered in a breath. “I’m ashamed to say that I helped him.”

Ignoring the chair, Adrien stepped forward and grabbed her arms. “But _why_?”

She gave him a look as if he were oblivious. “Because I love Gabriel.”

Adrien gave her a short hug. “I know that, and I forgive you for helping him because of it.” He pulled back and tried to read her eyes. “What I meant was why did he experiment on the Akumas in the first place?”

Nathalie grimaced again. “You’re going to want to sit down.”

***

Marinette looked over as Alya’s phone buzzed several times in quick succession. Her friend wiped engine grease off her hands on a rag and pulled it out of her pocket. Her eyebrows shot up and she immediately headed for the door, dragging Marinette with her.

“Alya, what is going on?”

With a deep breath, Alya stopped in the doorway and handed her phone over to Marinette. There were four messages from Nino in the last minute:

N: get mari and come here

N: 2 rooms down the hall

N: transform before you get here

N: quick

Marinette handed back the phone and nodded, mentally preparing for an akuma as they stepped across the hall into a bathroom and quickly transformed into their superhero personas.

They hurried to the room Nino had indicated and ran through the door. Chat Noir sat on the ground, head in his hands. Carapace knelt next to him with a hand on his shoulder. He looked over when they entered. “We know who’s behind the Akumas.”

Ladybug and Rena Rouge crouched on the ground next to the others. “Tell us everything.”

Chat looked up, face blank, voice monotone. “It’s Gabriel Agreste.”

Both of the girls gasped, thinking of the villain’s son. Ladybug took Chat’s hand. “How did you find out?”

He let his hand stay limp in hers. “His lead scientist stopped by and told me. She left a few minutes ago, but she told me everything she knew about his plans.”

He finally took her hand and squeezed. “He’s been genetically manipulating the cloned akumas to learn how to manipulate the gene code, and releasing them on the Galaxy Guard that he considers responsible for his wife’s death.” His grip got even tighter. “He’s trying to restore her.”

Rena looked confused. “Restore his wife? How can he do that if she died?”

Chat stood up abruptly and started pacing. “He’s going to start experimenting on humans. He’s got samples of her genetics. Stem cells. He’s saved her memories. He thinks he knows enough now to alter someone else’s DNA to bring her back, just like she was all those years ago.”

The other heroes stayed on the floor and watched as his pacing became more agitated. Rena nodded. “Well, now we know his game plan, we can stop him, right?”

Carapace tried to talk to her, but barely got a word out before Chat Noir stopped in his pacing, his hands pulling at his short hair. “You don’t understand! It’s not just some distant villain! He has my mother’s brain in a jar for heaven’s sakes!”

The girls were both too afraid to ask. Carapace set his jaw and furrowed his brow. Ladybug stood up and walked over to stand in front of him, reaching up to take his hands from his hair. “Chat--”

He cut her off angrily. “What? You want to know why he has my mother’s brain in a jar, huh? Because she’s the one he’s trying to bring back! Because he’s my father!”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any of these characters or concepts!
> 
> Working title, might change.


End file.
